


james potter and the weight of denial

by Eissel



Series: my values in another light [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Hogwarts House Sorting, Drabble, Gen, In which James is willfully blind to his own traits, Introspection, Self-Denial, Slytherin James Potter, This is probably the most charitable i've been towards james like ever
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-31
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-18 07:21:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29114451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eissel/pseuds/Eissel
Summary: Courage and ambition go hand in hand, a fact which is rapidly dawning on one James Potter, even as he denies it with each breath he draws.
Relationships: James Potter & Sorting Hat
Series: my values in another light [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2136156
Comments: 1
Kudos: 11
Collections: au housing - flash fiction





	james potter and the weight of denial

**Author's Note:**

> Out of all the resorting ideas I’ve ever had, I think this one challenged me the most. Not because the traits just aren’t there to justify said placement, but because the words just wouldn’t come for whatever reason. Anyways, I told a friend that I was planning on doing a Potter resorting.
> 
> I just never said which Potter was going to be resorted.

James never thought he could, in any lifetime, be sent to  _ Slytherin _ . It was laughable really, the suggestion that a Potter could end up in  _ Slytherin _ , where the darkest of wizards were produced, the house that was born from and lived off of pure blood supremacy. 

James wasn’t like that! He had no traits like any of the Slytherins he knew of (besides being pureblood, and  _ how _ exactly was that  _ his _ fault). He wasn’t Dark, he wasn’t cruel, Merlin’s beard, he didn’t have a cunning bone in his body! His mum could attest to that last one herself, she was always nagging him to take his mind off of Quidditch and pay more attention to his studies.

But the  _ hat _ , the bloody  _ hat _ just had to disagree. Arrogant it had called him, told him that Slytherin would make a fine place to temper his pride! It even said that he’d fit right in with all the power plays at work in the dungeons, having grown up as a pureblood and all. It left a bad taste in his mouth, the suggestion that Potter family politics were  _ anything _ like the horrors he had heard about the Blacks or the Lestranges. He rubbed at his tie— He was supposed to be in Gryffindor Tower right now, having a laugh with the bloke he had befriended on the train— 

The idea made him scowl. Black was, well, he was a  _ Black! _ Sure, he had seemed decent enough on the ride, but everyone knew that the Blacks were known for being dark. If anyone should have been sent to the snake pit, it should’ve been Black here, not  _ him _ . 

The hat didn’t know what it was talking about. Just because James liked to take charge, just because he wanted to be Quidditch Captain and Head Boy, just because he didn’t want to simply  _ live up  _ to the legacy his parents had handed him but surpass it— None of that automatically meant that he was a slimy snake. 

_ You will do well in Slytherin, you could even be the one to restore it to its former glory. Make it no longer the House of Voldemort, but once more the House of Merlin _ . The hat had whispered that to him as he took it off, still in dazed shock. The idea appealed to him, deep down, but James refused to admit it to himself. 

He was a Potter. He was  _ meant _ for Gryffindor. 

He  _ had  _ to be.

**Author's Note:**

> Do I think that James should be in Slytherin? No, not really, especially not at the time when he was going to Hogwarts. Do I think that he has the qualities of a Slytherin? Uh, yeah. Yeah, he does. For God’s sake, the kid managed to pull off becoming an animagi when he was 15, and he was both Quidditch Captain and Head Boy, the little shit was ambitious if nothing else.


End file.
